Abstract
Weed control in organic conservative vegetable systems is extremely challenging and the use of legume permanent living mulches (pLM) presents an interesting opportunity. The successful use of pLM is largely determined by the choice of appropriate legumes which are able to combine adequate weed control with a marginal competitive effect on the cash crop(s). However, the availability of legumes for such systems is limited and their characterization based on growth traits can support the selection of suitable legumes for conservation organic vegetable systems. The current study investigated weed control capacity and variability in morphological and phenological traits relevant in inter-plant competition among a range of 11 commercial cultivars of legumes and seven ecotypes of Medicago polymorpha (bur medic). For commercial cultivars, Lotus corniculatus (bird’s-foot trefoil) and Trifolium repens (white clover) showed the best weed control capacity, while Trifolium subterraneum (subterranean clover) and Medicago polymopha had more suitable characteristics for a rapid and complete establishment of the pLM. Overall, legume mulches appear more effective in dicotyledonous than in monocotyledonous weed control. Trifolium subterraneum cv. Antas and T. repens cv. Haifa were identified as the potentially most suitable legumes for use as pLM and their use in mixtures could be a promising solution. In addition, the ecotypes of Medicago polymorpha Manciano and Talamone proved to be well adapted for local environmental conditions and they showed a better weed suppression than the commercial cultivars of Medicago polymorpha.
Highlights
The increased need for sustainable agricultural systems has boosted the interest in cropping practices that allow the preservation of crop productivity while reducing the reliance on herbicides and nitrogen fertilisers [1]
Particular attention was given to the weed control capacity of legumes and to those growth characteristics that are expected to affect the suitability of legumes as permanent living mulches (pLM) in conservative and organic vegetables system
Since pLM involve the persistence of legumes for more than one growing season, legumes and weeds were monitored for two consecutive years
Summary
The increased need for sustainable agricultural systems has boosted the interest in cropping practices that allow the preservation of crop productivity while reducing the reliance on herbicides and nitrogen fertilisers [1]. Living mulches are subsidiary crops planted either before or together with a main crop and they persist as a living ground cover throughout the growing season. In the case pLM, perennial or annual self-seeding species are sown in a cropping system that is designed to maintain them for several growing seasons without the need for reseeding and allowing to minimize soil disturbance [2]. In such systems, cash crops are drilled or transplanted into the established pLM by no- or reduced tillage methods (i.e., superficial strip tillage) [3]
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